February 6

Steam Workshop

Advance to the Steam Age!
Explore new maps, multiplayer scenarios, and user created campaigns. Or reinvent your game experience with new sounds, visuals, AI, units, and more! Ready to share your creations with the world? Upload right from the map editor, or collaborate with friends to create a masterpiece collection.

New DLC Available

Explore a host of new features with Age of Empires II - The Forgotten including

Steam Trading Cards

Steam Trading cards are now available for Age of Empires II: HD. Collect them all to craft badges, emoticons, coupons, and unique profile backgrounds!

About This Game

In Age of Empires II: HD Edition, fans of the original game and new players alike will fall in love with the classic Age of Empires II experience. Explore all the original single player campaigns from both Age of Kings and The Conquerors expansion, choose from 18 civilizations spanning over a thousand years of history, and head online to challenge other Steam players in your quest for world domination throughout the ages. Originally developed by Ensemble Studios and re-imagined in high definition by Hidden Path Entertainment, and Skybox Labs, Microsoft Studios is proud to bring Age of Empires II: HD Edition to Steam!

When I was a child I would play this game. Now I bought it a second time because I want to be a child again... This is a game where you make an Empire that lasts through the Ages... Also when a friend of mine was telling me about this game when I was in third grade, he thought that it was called Agent Vampires. A game that has nothing to do with agents or vampires. Anyway, good game if you have friends who also want to be kids again.

AoE2 is the quintessential medieval base builder that has you conquering your opponents through four "Ages", with progressively stronger and better units. Best part was they released an expansion after more than a decade because this game has such a cult following.

The game has you gather resources, build structures, amass units and go trapsing over maps of all kinds. These range from tiny islands to pretty decent sized representations of European climates that have you seek out and destroy your enemies or win by several other not-so-total conquest game types. The new expansion allows those maps to be massive and adds even more civilizations to play with, making the total 23. These civilizations span from all corners of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. All units have voice clips in their native languages to help with the feel of every faction being truly different in addition to visually unique buildings and units depending on the cultural locale of your civilization.

With its migration to Steam AoE now has great multiplayer support, achievements, and Steam Workshop capabilities that will allow the sharing of user-created content to be spread much easier than having to download things like scenario maps from a third-party webpage over dial-up as I did back in the day.

If you played this game in the past, it is well worth picking up again if nothing more than for nostalgia goggle syndrome because you know just how fun this was. If you somehow missed the boat in the past and are a fan of games like this there is literally no reason you should not own this game. It has been improved and will more than likely be considered one of the fine wines of gaming; Better with age and enjoyed even more with friends.

Before you read this please note that I have been playing this game since I can remember and have only had it on Steam for a short while. This game is awesome! It is the perfect type of strategy game! There are dozens of different types of nationalities to choose from which all have their strengths and weaknesses. I have spent hours of countless fun playing this game. You can play the campaigns and when you have finished them you can play with a friend over LAN or online with random strangers! It randomly generates the maps so you don't have to worry about playing the same old map over and over. All in all I think this game is well worth the money! I give this game a 9/10!! Just cause I don't think any game can be a 10/10 but if a game can be 10/10 then this is the game!

The age of empires series is one of fame. After 13 years it can still be purchased (along with its expansion, The Conquerors) at Wal-Mart and Office Depot. This "new" title is an attempt at sprucing up one of the most beloved games of the franchise. It is amazingly rare to see an old property being brought back to life and updated, especially by a parent company that is only looking forward to the next big buck, and are willing to drop any title not making 500% profit (AOE Online was scrapped after a year in the wild, and much needed updates to many games still hang in limbo at EA). Only the bigwigs know what made them bring this one back, but we are glad to see some dust wiped off of our past every once in a while. Developer "Hidden Path" was contracted to shine up the series fav and bring it into the new age of gaming, they fixed important things and they didn't fiddle around where it wasn't needed, but they missed a couple of points that would have made it into a new age RTS diamond.

First of all, I must thank hidden path for finally raising the unit cap, but why only 500? While it is a good 2.5x higher than before, our machines are 250x more powerful than the Pentium II 200mhz it was originally designed for. I can only guess that much of the core engine remains as it was, and 500 was the highest they could go without breaking it. Even though the cap has been raised, you can still only select 20 units at a time. Was it something that was overlooked? not likely. Here is another notch in the theory of a stretched engine. They just couldn't do more without overhauling the back end.

While we are on the graphics, The reason it has HD in the title is the ability to hit 1920x1080, (and beyond for multi monitor rigs) whereas the original topped out at 1024x768. I agree with the general consensus in that the overhauled building and unit models are amazing, but once again the elderly engine comes through showing us no shadows, no zoom, and no visual effect updates. These are an almost standard feature of today's even bargain bin games that they missed completely. Does it detract from gameplay? Not really. Could they have spent a little more time bringing the graphics engine into this decade without effecting gameplay? yes.

The multiplayer. What can I say here? Game Zone worked (kinda) back in the day, but thankfully we have learned from those early days and have integrated the game wholly into Steam's online network with only a few launch bugs and some early lag issues (to be continued). What this means is a front row ticket to a beautifully seamless multiplayer before-game matching experience, but completely removes the LAN option that, like me, so many young geeks had permanently set up in their basements just for this. Inclusion with the Workshop will make mod and map finding a breeze, and I believe the good outweighs the bad here, but somehow there is still a bad taste somewhere in my mind from losing our offline multiplayer. (single play is still allowed offline).

The music score has been redone, but I can still pound the number keys for WOLOLOOO and "I Need Wood". No complaints there.

All-in-all it was well worth the money, and it is the authentic Age Of Kings/Conquerors experience, but the lack of improvements to the gameplay, and the surface improvement to the graphics makes this game feel more like a decent mod than a blockbuster.

(For further fiddling- the mod "Forgotten Empires" does everything this HD remake does, plus adds hours of single player campaigns, and a good dozen fixes)

This game has long been a childhood favorite. It was the first game I ever bought and owned for the PC. I played a lot of this game, mainly singleplayer back in 2006, but scratched the CD a couple years later. When I found it had been remastered on Steam I was quick to purchase myself a copy and have been playing both singleplayer and multiplayer since. For those of you who used to own a copy like myself, I highly advise purchasing this digital edition, as it offers both the same nostalgic gameplay and a great strategic outlet. The Forgotten DLC also gives you more to explore and adds even greater variety to an already extensive game. I highly recommend this title, as it has quickly (re)become a personal favorite.For those of you who haven't played Age of Empires before, it was one of the older RTS games dating back to the late 90s / early 21st century. I'm surprised more people don't play it. You are given a wide selection of civilizations with specific perks each, and try to race each other towards an objective, be it a Wonder Race, Deathmatch, or King of the Hill. All of which are great fun! What really stands out with this game is that there are hundreds, if not thousands of ways to win. Granted, the mechanics may seem simple and outdated, but when trying to runn an entire empire with 200+ units against up to seven other players, every click counts as you try to out-maneuver, out-think, and out-micro your opponent. The graphics may take a while to get used to, but what you really should look forward to enjoying is the satisfaction of wrecking the strong defenses of an enemy with allies or alone, and conquering lands one by one. A great title, I also highly advise purchasing this for the newer community.

Good old AoE action but now in widescreen resolutions. Of course I got the Real HD Edition texturepack from workshop to make it look even cooler.I haven't played strategygames that much since I'm more into fps games but this game truly has that something in it!I really enjoy playing this every now and then even tho I suck at it :D

Age of Empires II: Age of Kings was originally released in 1999, and it is one of the most influential titles in one of real-time strategy’s most celebrated franchises. It holds a special place within gaming history as a solid, meat-and-potatoes RTS generously drizzled with rich historical gravy.

Age of Empires II: HD’s main changes are updates to the graphics engine, allowing the game to be compatible with modern machines. The game has been overhauled to allow players to take advantage of HD displays and multiple monitors. But one of the strongest elements of the re-release is the score, which has been lovingly remixed. The music now evokes a more sophisticated mood than it did previously, and it’s something that adds greatly to the feel of the game.

This edition of Age of Empires II includes The Conquerors expansion, so fans wanting to replay the campaigns will find hours of familiar scenarios. These haven’t aged particularly well; the scripting system compares poorly with other titles, particularly Blizzard’s Warcraft III and StarCraft II. There are many instances of breaking the fourth wall, where victory and activation conditions are very obviously scripted rather than fitting seamlessly into gameplay.

The new textures added to water, fire, and earth add a nice new look to the terrain. It’s subtle, but the overall impression is refined and almost painterly. The terrain itself has been one of the biggest changes, with a mesh system now used to give a more even natural landscape. Also gone are the 256 colour UI elements, and the icons have been updated to a more rustic feel to go with the softer 32-bit colour scheme.

The only significant change made at all to gameplay is the raising of the maximum population cap to 500. This is a lost opportunity to fix the kinds of problems that even diehard fans consider simple annoyances. The ability to select more than 20 units would have been a worthy addition, and is simply a control flaw rather than a balance or creative issue. Running at 1920x1080 allows for a huge number of units on one screen, which still need to be divided into small divisions to command in battle.

The most positive change – and one that will justify the price tag for most players – is multiplayer. Although alternative matchmaking services have done much to keep interest in the online game alive over the years since the demise of Microsoft’s clunky Gaming Zone, Steam integration puts players back onto a universal ladder system. The platform’s social features and existing framework also mean players can come to the game with their own networks firmly in place.

So for better or worse, Steam has come along and is now selling a game it’s quite possible many gamers already own in some form or other. The changes are subtle, but well-intentioned and admirably executed. Multiplayer is excellent. Those who loved Age of Empires II should happily indulge in some nostalgia with this HD facelift. Anyone new to the game will be frustrated by the lack of modern control systems and responsive hot keys.

A old classic game that is always fun to play. it may be old and the graphics might not look the nicest, but if you can play 3 hours straight without noticing how much time has gone by, I can sure tell you it is a good game.

This game is the King of RTS. I have not played it much since getting it on steam but that is because I have hundreds of hours logged on the game outside of steam. If you love history and RTS this is the game for you. Far superior to Age of Empires 1 or 3.While the game may look a little dated, Don't let that fool you, the mechanics are still top of the line.

I thought I was over my AOE addiction back when MSN zone shut down. I managed to go outside and make some friends. I even got a girlfriend and a job. Life was good until a colleguage told me to check out the black friday steam sale. I noticed AOE HD listed with 70% off and immediately started having flash backs of the game from back in 2000.

I have to say the game hasn't changed from what I remember and once I got the hang of the keys I was playing like a pro again. In the first few months there were crashing issues in the lobbies but these have been fixed recently. I now love playing it just as much as I used to and spend most nights in deathmatch games.

The population limit increase it the only feature i've noticed to really improves the game from the original...apart from that its the same, so probably overpriced for a 15 year old game. Reasonable if you pick it up in a steam sale.

Unfortunately my girlfriend got sick of the sound of camels moaning while she tries to watch towie so our relationship took a bad turn...my boss has also noticed my work productivity has decreased because I spend too much time sitting in deathmatch lobbies when i'm supposed to be working...he said if things don't improve I will be fired.

I think I could enjoy this game more if I was single and unemployed but at the moment it's causing too many problems :(

The first difference is that you have all of the previous DLC/expansions already. So no need to go rummaging around old game stores for the extra campaign mode maps.

The game really does look really nice when playing it on 1080p and the support for multiple monitors is a welcome addition.

Multi-player AOE has never been easier. No need to set up servers, IP addresses and the sort. Just click "join" and you are in.

Is it worth it though? If its your first time playing Age of Empires, then yes, it will save you a lot of hassle, however if you have played before, you can get the majority of these features via mods to install with your older version of Age of Empire.

For the price, DLC, and updates, you can't beat the price. It costs more to buy the CD at walmart, which is the old version. I played this as a kid and still love it. I love real time strategy games, and wish there was a larger varietry for this great style of gaming. Great for the brain as you work with tactics and learn some history while you're at it.